What is True Happiness?
by The Great Ahtnamas
Summary: A fairly long poem: Ganondorf deals with an inner quarrel after defeating the Hero, Link. Based on a possible lighter side of Ganondorf


**What is True Happiness?**  
>Written by: The Great Ahtnamas<p>

Thunder rumbled through the tower;  
>Lightning was the only source of light<br>In the darkness of the hour  
>The fortress stood tall through the rumbling might.<p>

Heavy footsteps echoed through the room  
>Wind blew through tattered tapestries<br>And around the man who brought doom,  
>Making forests burn and lakes freeze.<p>

The man stopped and looked down  
>Upon the soiled, reddened, marble floor<br>Where lay the crumpled dead form  
>Of the Hero of Legends and Lore.<p>

"Where are the great Goddesses now, boy?"  
>His voice was dark and his features steady.<br>Nowhere in his heart did he feel joy  
>Or upon this boy take pity.<p>

He lifted his gaze to the Princess—  
>The final child of the Royal Bloodline.<br>Under his approach, she felt hopeless,  
>And with fear her eyes did shine.<p>

She was curled up in her throne  
>Silent, yet hysterical.<br>She was suddenly alone,  
>The thought darkly fantastical.<p>

A few short strides carried him  
>As close to her as necessary.<br>His sword glowed lightly in the twilight dim,  
>Lusting for the blood of his quarry.<p>

He pointed his sword at the woman  
>But he did not run her through.<br>He thought carefully of this helpless lamb,  
>And what, soon, he may rue.<p>

"If you give me the power you hold sacred,  
>I shall spare you the fate of your hero."<br>His words brought no comfort to the fated,  
>And, stunned, she fainted 'gainst regal pillow.<p>

The victor sighed and placed his sword  
>On the carpeted, marble floor.<br>He took her hand with a short word,  
>And chanted to end the brutal war.<p>

The light on her hand flickered and dimmed  
>As the light on his brightened and shone.<br>Over her pale cheek his finger skimmed;  
>She was like him; completely alone…<p>

He summoned a guard into the room.  
>"Take the princess to her chambers,<br>And afterward, your duties resume."  
>He did so and spat on dead stranger.<p>

Once alone, the new king looked above  
>And questioned the Three Divine<br>Why his position didn't he love?  
>Why were the Goddesses not benign?<p>

"Make your wish," they stated.  
>"Is that not what you want?"<br>They seemed unabated.  
>Did <em>Din<em> want him to rot?

For some unknown reason to him,  
>His heart pounded in his steel chest.<br>He felt that he lacked his usual vim,  
>Wondering what should be reassessed.<p>

"What is your wish?" They asked with interest.  
>He thought deeply and wondered the same.<br>How could he now choose best?  
>As a quarrel then came.<p>

"Three Divine Goddesses!" he finally called.  
>"You offer me anything I please,<br>Yet always great burdens have I hauled.  
>Can this one wish be my release?<p>

"Yee the Three have harmed your children:  
>Farore, your children of forest parts<br>Have hidden in fear from Nayru's children,  
>Those with naught but dark hearts.<p>

"And Din unto you I question this:  
>You have allowed death unto your children,<br>Bestowed to them the poison kiss,  
>And I live alone, a dark omen:<p>

"Why do you defile us so?  
>Are you dissatisfied with us?<br>Each have become a Poe,  
>Their anger(1) both sad and just.<p>

"Do you understand  
>The pain you have caused?<br>Is this what you planned?  
>For your creations to be lost?"<p>

To this the Three replied  
>Without remorse or anger or sorrow,<br>"You must have a wish in mind:  
>Else, why have you fought for the 'morrow?"<p>

"How harsh you are! How cold!  
>Have you no sympathy?<br>For that which I have fought the world  
>Has gone forever from me!"<p>

Silence fell and the world did glow.  
>He realized the wisdom, so minish(2)<br>A knowledge the Goddesses would not show.  
>"King of the Sand, what is you wish?"<p>

The Kingdom, he already ruled;  
>The Triforce would be no more;<br>Had he been such a fool?  
>He could no longer walk the empty shore.<p>

He turned to the Three and cried,  
>"Dear Goddesses, I have but one desire;<br>I have returned to this world to find…  
>Goddesses, an image to invoke my ire!<p>

"Generations ago, my rule began  
>Over a land—desolate, destructive.<br>Taken from me was—not land—  
>But my people; none now live.<p>

"Oh, Three Golden Goddesses, hear me:  
>I wish not for the world or immortality;<br>Grant to me this and this only:  
>I wish for my people to be returned to me."<p>

Then it seemed the Three smiled.  
>"Wielder of the Triforce, hear our words;<br>You have found our favor, reckless child.  
>Your people will come, like an Ordon herd."<p>

A strange satisfaction settled with him.  
>When he returned his gaze to the world,<br>He placed his hand to his chin,  
>His eyebrows deeply knotted and furled.<p>

Yet everything seemed to remain the same,  
>Except that the Triforce's power had gone.<br>His people must not have remained  
>Dead to the world, leaving him still alone.<p>

Perhaps they had been returned  
>To their natural, desert dwelling?<br>He began to descend when he learned  
>Just what the Goddesses had been dispelling.<p>

The castle balcony gave kingly view  
>Of the lands just surrounding it.<br>The direction of the desert he knew,  
>But its image came as quite the hit.<p>

The sand dunes had disappeared  
>And in their place, among much more,<br>Trees, shrubs, animals, and flowers appeared.  
>His dead wasteland became one to adore.<p>

And then, he heard from behind,  
>A childish voice of Gerudo.<br>When he turned, his eyes did shine,  
>As he knew that there remained no foe.<p>

A child ran to the King,  
>Hugging him as one might her father.<br>Her voice made his heart sing,  
>And he knew to look no farther.<p>

"Lord Ganondorf! You saved us!  
>You never forgot your people!<br>I have never known such happiness!"  
>The child did eagerly tell.<p>

He looked to the child, then the wood.  
>The rest who returned soon came as well.<br>He said, "With you, I share that mood.  
>This is true happiness, I can tell."<p>

* * *

><p><strong>A.N.: This is a poem I've been working on for a while. I never quite believed that Ganondorf was just pure evil, but he had a motive behind him that, when kept in mind, drove him to a touch of madness. I'm not sure that, even if he realized he wanted his people back, he would wish for that. This is just supposed to be a happy ending to a sad, multi-generation war. A couple notes to keep the reader up to par with the writer's mind:<br>**

**(1): A poe is a ghost (and if you didn't know _that,_ I'm not sure why you're reading this,) made up of concentrated anger. To claim that his people are Poes, I also claimed that they forever wandered in suffering and anguish. **

**(2): Of course, "Minish" is a race of creatures. In this poem I also took the meaning (from the prefix "mini") small. "He realized the wisdom, so small..." **

**I hope you enjoyed reading this; I really enjoyed writing it. If there are any suggestions for the flow of the poem, don't hesitate to say them. Thank you for at least viewing!**


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